One look into striking cobalt blue eyes and Monica knows she'll take the plunge. Too bad the man she's attracted to is in the online catalog of a high-priced escort service.
Monica is a freelance writer trapped at home by acute agoraphobia. Tired of her fantasy sex life, she dares to hire a man for an in-home date which may or may not lead to the bedroom.
College student Ryan is strapped for cash. To keep himself and his ill grandmother financially afloat, Labors of Love dating service sounds like an easy gig. He's relieved when he's attracted to his very cute first client.
What was meant to be a one time date evolves into several appointments since Monica can't get enough of Ryan. Can a relationship based on a business contract blossom into real romance and can Monica overcome her paralyzing panic attacks when true love is at stake?
I began telling stories as a child. Whenever there was a sleepover, I was the designated ghost tale teller. I still have a story printed on yellow legal paper in second grade about a ghost, a witch and a talking cat.
I enjoy dabbling in many genres. Whether you're a fan of contemporary historical or fantasy romance, you'll find something to enjoy among my books. I'm interested in flawed, often damaged, people who find the fulfillment they seek in one another. To stay informed about new releases, please sign up for my newsletter. You can join my street team at FB. Learn more about my backlist at http://bonniedee.com and find me on FB and Twitter @Bonnie_Dee.
An escort?! As the hero in a romance book? Gasp! Oh Lord, what a jolt in my prudish - yeah, right! ;) - heart...
Monica Brennerman is a twenty-seven-year-old writer who suffers from severe agoraphobia. So severe that she can't even make herself go outdoors in her own backyard. She isn't happy about her situation, but she can't shake herself out of it, no matter how much her mother and sister try to help her. One night, feeling kind of lustful and lonely, she logs on the internet and orders herself an escort - because, you know, there are some things that even the best vibrator can't do. ;)
Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Hayes is a starving college student who desperately needs money to keep his Alzheimer's suffering grandmother in a decent nursing home. He doesn't mind living in a cockroach-infested appartment, but his grandmother deserves the best for all she's done for him since childhood. So what's a boy to do under such circumstance? Become a high-end prostitute, of course!
Ryan's first client turns out to be Monica and they hit it off - on and off the bed - right away. The problem is, neither can forget that they aren't "normal" people having a date, so when the night is over, he leaves without knowing if he'll ever see her again. Oh, she does want to see him again, but she can't afford another date appointment with him... unless she doesn't have to eat everyday and manages to save some extra money. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
As Ryan and Monica meet again and again, their feelings get in the way of their "business transaction" and insecurity enters the picture. Can they get past their personal problems and find a way to be together for good? Grandma still needs care, so it isn't like Ryan can quit his job in a blink of an eye. Is Monica willing to share him with his clients? Hmmm...
I've got to say that when I started reading this book, I thought Ryan would be a "fake" escort whose first client turns out to be the love of his life and he would never have to service any other client. Well, I was wrong and Ms. Dee didn't shy away from describing Ryan's appointments. Let me tell you, he deserved being well paid for some of the stuff his kinky clients asked him to do. Strangely enough, that part of Ryan's life didn't turn me off as I'd expected - probably because Ms. Dee wouldn't stop stating how much he disliked what he did. That was fine at first, but it became too much halfway through the story because it felt like Ms. Dee was trying too hard to make me "forgive" him for being a prostitute. He didn't need to be "forgiven", he needed to get out of it if that bothered him that much.
Monica's agoraphobia was a nice and believable plot device to make me sympathize with her hiring an escort to fulfill her sexual needs. As someone who never left her house, how else was she supposed to find a sex partner, right? ;) Thankfully, that was the only time her disorder played a major role in Ryan and Monica's relationship. He didn't become her ultimate savior, the man who helped her work through her problems and taught her how to find her place in the outside world again. Nope. She managed to work on that without him, with the meddling but loving help of her mother and sister, and I was glad it was done that way. After all, she might be in love with Ryan, but he wasn't the answer to all her problems.
As this is an erotica/romantica novel, let's talk about the sex scenes, shall we? They were hot, diverse and, yes, kinky. There was masturbation, missionary/conventional sex, "backdoor" loving, some D/s play, a rape fantasy scene, ménage... and that's when things got a little too crazy for me.
All things considered, this was still a good read. I like Ms. Dee's writing, the premise of the book and its development were nicely done, the characters (including the secondary ones) were likable and the sex scenes where sizzling hot - minus the one I mentioned in the spoiler above, that is. Do I recommend this bok? Well, if you don't mind being constantly reminded how "saintly" Ryan is and you have no issues regarding what happens between three two and a half consenting adults, I say it's worth giving it a try.
Note: Even though I've mentioned Ryan's and Monica's age in my review, I'm not sure how old they really are because somewhere near the end of the book, Ryan himself says he's six years younger than her. As far I as know, twenty-seven minus twenty-three equals four. I'm not a math genius, but I'm positive about that, LOL.
Reviewed for THC Reviews "4.5 stars" What romance reader doesn't love Pretty Woman? I know I certainly do. I can't really explain why, but there's just something about the story of a prostitute who is “rescued” from that life to find her HEA. Well, Hired for Her Pleasure is kind of a reverse Pretty Woman. In this story, the hero is the one working as a male escort, and although he doesn't keep the job for long, it's long enough to meet the heroine, who happens to be his first client. She isn't exactly independently wealthy, but she manages to scrape together enough cash to hire him for a couple of nights of pure bliss, during which they fall head-over-heels for one another. It was a very appealing story that I enjoyed quite a bit.
Monica is a freelance writer who suffers from agoraphobia. She's had panic attacks since her teen years that escalated in her twenties until she could no longer leave her house. Longing for some male companionship, she goes online looking into male escorts. I like that she had reservations about hiring someone for a date and possibly sex, but I also understood when she finally did it that her actions were born out of loneliness. She has her family, but she desperately wants a man in her life, someone to hold and kiss and talk to, as well as with whom she can have mind-blowing sex. She finds all that and more with Ryan. He's definitely someone Monica could see herself dating for real, so she feels rather guilty about paying for his services. Still, she likes him so much, she can barely stand the idea of never seeing him again, so she calls him to come back a few more times. Once Monica realizes that Ryan cares for her as much as she cares for him but has disappeared from her life, I really liked how she tried to move heaven and earth to find him again and faced her fears to search for him.
Ryan is a sympathetic character who has very good reasons for becoming a male escort. He's juggling a busy life of college classes and working multiple jobs to pay the rent and more importantly to pay for a decent nursing home for his elderly grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's. She raised him, and he feels he owes her the best care he can possibly provide. On the suggestion of a friend, he starts out working a phone sex job, then later transitions into the male escort position. Ryan is worried about who his first client is going to be and can't believe his luck when such a cute, sweet woman answers the door. He likes Monica from the moment they meet and no client he services after her measures up to the high standard she set. He soon realizes that each client is siphoning off a little piece of his soul and leaving him feeling dirtier each time, but with Monica it's totally different. Even though he quits the job, he still sees her a couple more times, leading her to believe he's still in the business.
Bonnie Dee is really good at conveying the characters' emotions. I truly felt a connection between Monica and Ryan from their first meeting. I liked how they were both a little nervous, but were able to put each other at ease. They spend a little time just talking, sharing dinner, and getting to know one another before things heat up in the bedroom. Both of them also genuinely want to get to know the other one on a deeper level, and are eager to see each other again when their “dates” end. Their love scenes are laced with emotion as each of them are very loving and giving toward the other. Monica and Ryan both desperately wish that theirs was a “normal” relationship but are too afraid to reveal their true feelings. He believes that she hired him for no-strings sex, and she believes that he views their time together as a business arrangement. I really like how the author handled the prostitution issue. I don't want to give too much away, but she brought everything full-circle, so that while it was an unconventional way for them to meet, it didn't necessarily cloud their future together.
The only thing that really bothered me about the story was a scene in which Monica and a secondary character take Ecstasy combined with alcohol. I initially thought that something bad was going to happen which Ryan would then rescue her from, but it didn't play out that way at all, which was a little disappointing. Unfortunately, it was used as a way for them to relax before engaging in a ménage à trois. Although the scene is written from Monica's POV and she still seemed coherent enough to make decisions, she was pretty inebriated. This made me a little uncomfortable about potentially dubious consent. Even if she wasn't high enough to be completely impaired, it seemed like it wouldn't have been as enjoyable or that she wouldn't have been able to remember the experience clearly afterward, which was kind of the point of doing it in the first place. I honestly didn't know what the author was trying to accomplish by including the use of an illegal drug in such a casual way. IMHO, it didn't really add anything to the story, and in fact, to my way of thinking, detracted from it. If it was meant only to relax Monica, I think the same thing could have been accomplished with a couple of drinks and would have been more socially acceptable.
Other than the casual drug use, the only other thing that kind of bugged me a bit were the typos. In many cases, a word was missing, and I had to pause for a moment to try to figure out what was meant. It was enough to be a little distracting and make me feel like the novella could have been edited better, but not enough to really detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. With that being the case, I struggled a bit with how to rate Hired for Her Pleasure. I couldn't help giving it a few extras points for the palpable emotional connection, which is something that many romance authors nowadays seem to have difficulty with. I felt like that, combined with me enjoying all the rest of the story, aside from the ménage scene involving drugs, made it worthy of a little more than four stars, so I ended up only marking it down a half point. Based on my two experiences reading her work, I can say that Bonnie Dee is a talented author, and I'm very much looking forward to trying more of her books in the hopefully near future.
Note: This story contains explicit language and sexual content, including playacting a rape fantasy, anal sex, and a M/F/M ménage.
For a short story I was instantly attached to this h/h. I loved Ryan and perhaps because the Olympics are in full swing had another Ryan in my mind :). Monica suffers from a mild form of Agoraphobia, I liked this idea. The sex was hot the emotions tender and sweet. This is a winner for me. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, hot, read with a sweet HEA. I really wish it had been longer with the two main characters having such interesting issues I think this could have been a full length novel. It is that good!
Ini pertama kalinya baca genre erotica... dan ternyata ceritanya bagus... simple tapi gemesin... suka banget sama kedua tokoh utamanya ya ampun mereka lucu banget x"DDDD
Monica is agoraphobic and hasn't been outside in quite a while - which makes dating very difficult. So she hires a male escort to live out some of her fantasies and is surprised how much she likes her escort Ryan. He's a first timer and only doing this to make ends meet and he's thrilled to have Monica for his first job. And in comparison to his later jobs, she's a dream. In fact, he'd like to have a real relationship with her, but his job, having sex with other women and the fact that he believes Monica only hired him because she wanted no-strings sex makes him hesitate. Monica feels exactly the same, but she has to keep reminding herself that she's only a job to Ryan and to enjoy it while it (and her money) lasts.
This was pretty good - a wide variety of sexual experiences going on here. Ryan is adorable, and you almost don't mind that he's basically a prostitute and having sex with other people while he's falling in love with the heroine. That does bother me a bit, but it's his job, he's gotta do it. Or quit. Which he does eventually. So there may be technical infidelity there...he's "with" the heroine, but still having sex with other women for his job. Then with the whole threesome sex, there's another situation that is questionably infidelity. Monica wants a threesome and their third, Travis, shows up early. He gives her some Ecstacy, which I guess makes her horny, and she goes to town on Travis before Ryan ever shows up. And she loves it...but the author strongly suggests that she is only loving her time with Travis because of the drug. It still made me somewhat uncomfortable, especially since they proceed to have their threesome while she's high as a kite. That's some pretty irresponsible behavior - I have no idea what E does for decision making capabilities, but it still made me uncomfortable. I also don't know much about agoraphobia, but I liked the uniqueness of a heroine dealing with it. Also, because I don't know much about it, I still don't know if I can believe how quickly she got over it. It's certainly possible I guess. The highlight here was the sex and Ryan and Monica developing their friendship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Hmm... Erotica yang satu ini ceritanya bagus juga... di luar konteks tiap ketemu langsung sruduk yah.. hmpffth
Tokoh Wanita disini, Monica menderita Agoraphobia sejak jaman sekolah dulu.. Agoraphobia itu semacam ketakutan terhadap kehidupan luar, dia ga tahan berlama - lama berada di luar ruangan selain rumahnya yg dia anggap tempat paling aman. bahkan pekerjaannya pun adalah sebagai penulis artikel freelance di majalah, yg mana dapat di lakukan di rumahnya sendiri. karna Phobia nya ini, Monica tidak pernah bergaul dan mengenal laki - laki.. hingga suatu hari, Dia nekat meng'Hired' seseorang untuk menjadi 'Date Semalam' di sebuah Website.
dan di sanalah dia bertemu Ryan.. Dengan melihat beberapa profile di website tersebut.. dengan sekali pandang, Monica memilih Ryan.
Ryan ini bisa kerja seperti ini karna usulan seorang teman, Travis, yg melihat Ryan butuh pekerjaan tambahan. Pada dasarnya, Ryan bukan lah orang yg pantas untuk menjalani pekerjaan sebagai 'Escort' tersebut. Monica adalah 'Tugas' pertama Ryan. karna itu, saat sampai di rumah Monica Ryan kebingungan dan malah membuat mereka berdua berlaku seperti teman.. Pertemuan pertama yg akhirnya berujung dengan Sex juga siih.. hahahha.. (pastinya)..
Merasa ga cukup, Monica menghired Ryan lagi untuk pertemuan kedua.. di pertemuan ke tiga ini, mereka berdua sudah saling merasa nyaman Ryan memberikan nomor telphone pribadinya. disini juga ujungnya Sex.. kiikiikiiikiiikiii... kali ini di luar ruangan.. haghaghag.. di taman belakang Monica.. karna sejak mengenal Ryan, Monica mencoba untuk Move on (hayyah) dan menjoba untuk keluar dari rumahnya..
disinilaahhh... Ryan menanyakan kepada Monica keinginan terbesarnya dia... Monica menjawab.. dia selalu berfantasi bagaimana rasanya Threesome...
Halllaahhh... gw kira kagak bakal ada beginian... ternyata ada juga.. haghaghag... Alhasil, Ryan mewujudkan keinginan Monica, dan mengajak Travis untuk mewujudkannya.. Threesome.. hmpffth
Beberapa konflik terjadi setelahnya... yg malah menyadarkan perasaan hati masing - masing..
For such a short story, I was surprising attached to both Monica and Ryan. It's a really sweet contemporary romance.
I like that both characters aren't perfect nor our typical characters. Monica with her Agoraphobia and Ryan being an escort. I like that Ryan didn't enjoy nor like being an escort but had to do it for school and his grandma. We get to read a bit about Ryan's other appointments. Strangely it didn't turn me off to read about it but rather made me laugh.
Monica's flaw is believable and made a nice plot :) I'm glad that she wasn't weak, she learnt and fought against her disability without Ryan being the hero. I like the little snippets of her fantasies. I'm pretty sure that happens to us ladies pretty often ;) It's a pretty good as a quick light read :3
Erotica wise, the steamy was pretty good :3 That's just a no no. I enjoyed the rape fantasy scene. It was steamy yet hilarious at the same time!
What I didn't like was the author throwing in the whole menage and drug thing out of no where. It kinda just killed how I felt about the characters. Monica just went ahead with ecstasy and Ryan didn't get pissed with what-his-name giving her drugs and taking advantage of her. Totally wth.
I thought I wouldn't like this. Because of too much erotic daydreams she's having? whatever, but then I never thought I'd shed a tear at that part where she told him that he was just being paid, and should not care. :( Another thing it has to do with the "noona" feels I am having with this sex pot idol named Kai. Okay, that's ridiculous, but seriously. The entire time reading this, I was imagining him.
I had fun with the characters in this book...Monica & Ryan...I do love in the description where it states...Can a relationship based on a business contract blossom into real romance...Where Monica has paralyzing panic attacks when true love is at stake? This book on my opinion there should have been a second one...but definitely will be reading more books by this author in the future...a definitely 5 Star read for me :)